ROm, a Dutch Professional Journal on Spatial Development and the physical Living Environment, has published a background article about the quiet advance of European city networks: "Between the power of consensus building and the pitfall of uncontrolled growth".
Since several European municipalities and organisations joined the Urban Agenda for the EU in 2016, cities have moved from the sidelines to the Brussels drawing board. In this growing playing field of partnerships and city networks, a unique form of 'European consensus-building' is emerging, yielding valuable practical lessons and opening doors to greater influence on European regulations and funding. As the significance of this collaboration grows, those involved warn of the downside of its success: an unstoppable proliferation of collaborations that puts pressure on cities' capacity.
The author interviewed, among others, Karen van Dantzig (Dutch Urban Envoy) and Valentina Schippers-Opejko (Coordinator UAPP Partnership). Eurocities and URBACT are valuable players mentioned. And the collaboration between the cities of Haarlem and Amsterdam and their joint effort to create future-proof artifical sports fields, funded by the EU Scale Up program, is pointed out in this article.
Please find the whole article here. It is in Dutch. You can use the DeepL tool to translate if you wish.
